School board rejects 13 names on petition but will resume work later

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Members of the crowd listen during a Dixie School District board public hearing to consider changing the district’s name at Creek Middle School in San Rafael on Tuesday. (James Cacciatore/Marin Independent Journal)

After 5 1/2 hours of testimony, talk and debate, Dixie School District officials voted no on petitions for 13 new names Tuesday, agreeing to take the matter up again at a later date.

“You have a moment here,” board member Marnie Glickman said, objecting to the delay and promoting her favorite of the 13, the Live Oak Valley Elementary School District. “You could choose love over Dixie.”

Supporters of the name change were not appeased by the decision. About 50 people were left as the meeting ended just before 11 p.m., far fewer than 300-plus who packed the gymnasium at Miller Creek Middle School in north San Rafael earlier in the evening.

“When you leave dishes in the sink, the pests collect,” San Francisco NAACP chapter president Amos Brown boomed into the microphone. He then led a loud rendition of the song “We Shall Not Be Moved.”

The board was under a deadline set by the state Education Code to hold the public hearing and vote within 40 days from Jan. 15, when the petitions were first posted. Board members Megan Hutchinson and Brooks Nguyen said they were in favor of the name change, but wanted to involve more community members in the actual selection — and to do more research.

Glickman, however, told the rest of the board the delay was not necessary since the issue had been raised at least three times before — the first time in 1997.

“We’re already waited 22 years,’ she said.

After prodding by Glickman, board members agreed to vote on the names one by one, but none of the 13 got a majority vote, so all were rejected. Of the 13, Live Oak Valley Elementary School District and Big Rock Elementary School District got 2 yes votes to 3 nos.

Several of the names, such as Live Oak (with no Valley) and Miwok, were rejected because of similarities to other school names in the state. The name Skywalker was rejected for trademark reasons due to its reference to the “Star Wars” film character Luke Skywalker.

Lucas Valley Elementary School District got a no vote because it was geographically limited since the district of 14,000 voters includes several other communities in addition to Lucas Valley, such as Marinwood and Terra Linda. Terra LInda Elementary School District was rejected because it overlapped with Terra Linda High School, which is in another school district, San Rafael City Schools.

Terra Wood Valley Elementary School District got props for the effort to combine several communities, but was rejected for being “too convoluted,” according to board president Brad Honsberger.

Honsberger said the district would put the decision on a future board agenda to allow more discussion. Board member Alissa Chacko said she ultimately was in favor of the name change but objected to the petition process.

“I think we made some progress,” district parent Bruce Anderson, a name change supporter, said after the meeting. “At least we’re not still talking about whether to change the name — we’re talking about choosing a new name.”

At issue is the name Dixie’s ties to the racism, slavery and violence of the Confederacy and the Civil War-era South. As is happening all over the country, symbols of that part of the nation’s history are being removed as people of color and others say they are hurt and offended by them — and even if they aren’t bothered by the name, they have empathy for those who are.

But those who are opposed to the name change say the process should include a community-wide non-binding vote in 2020, as was approved by the previous board in December. They said the way the controversy was thrust on the community was hurtful, and they are not prepared to erase the area’s history or destroy the positive “brand” they say Dixie has built for them and their families and businesses.

“Dixie is not an evil name — it has positive connotations,” said Pat Long. “The Dixie name was used 300 years before the Confederacy and there are (many) cities now with the Dixie name.”

Earlier, the public hearing slid quickly into the sharp divisions that have marked the current controversy for the last six months.

“From the beginning, when Marnie Glickman and Superintendent Jason Yamashiro appeared (on TV) in their official district capacity, to announce to the Bay Area that the Dixie name is racist — ever since then, the community has been excluded from this debate,” said school parent Jessica Freilich. “And now, whatever opportunity there was for the dialogue you described at the beginning (of the meeting) is long gone.”

Anderson disagreed. He said he supports changing the name to Live Oak Valley Elementary School District, or LOVE school district. He said the name would evoke the feelings experienced by early settlers when they first saw the lush countryside in north San Rafael where the Dixie School District was established in the 1860s.

“The name change has taken too long,” he said. “The time to change the name is now. Let’s call it the LOVE school district — all you need is love.”

Others agreed.

“I don’t subscribe to the idea that everyone who wants to keep the name is racist,” said district alum Patrick Nissim. “There are some who truly value the educational ecosystem and who feel this institution is being penalized for reasons unrelated to the quality of care. But changing the name is not an indictment of this district. Changing the name is simply the next free chapter of this district’s history — it is a lesson in empathy.”

Miwok tribe member Marge Grow-Eppard said her family name was Dixie and she believes the family’s burial grounds are in or near the district. Some people insist that the district’s name came from the Dixie tribe instead of the generally accepted history that early pioneer James Miller gave the district the name Dixie on a dare from Confederacy-friendly construction workers who built the tiny Dixie Schoolhouse, now on the National Register of Historic Places, in 1864.

“How dare they say my family is racist?” Grow-Eppard said.

Board President Brad Honsberger urged participants to stay collegial.

“The political world these days seems charged and disrepectful, including hateful comments and blaming others,” Honsberger said. “Dixie has the opportunity to demonstrate how discourse can be respectful, courteous and accepting.”

Yamashiro said Marin Community Foundation has agreed to cover the total cost of the name change, which has risen to about $25,000 from about $20,000 a month ago as additional items have surfaced where signs or titles need to be updated.